Sunday, October 21, 2007

I thought it might be time to introduce the main people in my life, at least in regards to this whole running/swimming/biking/oh-my-god-you're doing-what?!? thing. This is by no means everyone, but it's a start.

Meet my husband. We met about the same time we started college, and have been married five and a half years now. He's unbelievable supportive of this whole venture, and has even done a sprint tri himself. He works for an ad agency and is starting a running team there for the local mini-marathon that's part of the Kentucky Derby Festival next spring.

Debi is awesome. She's my main training partner these days, as my others are pretty much only runners. She's a mother of five. She managed to convince me that I can actually survive the Ironman, and pointed out that I would be kicking myself if she did the race and I didn't. She gets me to do a lot of races that way.Ben refers to her as my enabler. I think that's pretty accurate. Also, as a side note, her nickname is Princess, but not for why you would think. When she runs, she holds her arms and hands in a way that remind me of the princess from Super Mario Bros 2. And to be fair, my nickname is T-Rex, because as I get tired when I run, my arms come up like one.

Tammy

Before there was Debi, there was Tammy. (nickname: Crazy Legs) She and I have run together almost every Thursday after work for about 4 years. She is fast. She is small. She ran the Boston Marathon this spring, and has re-qualified. She can stick to a training plan like no other. And she just got a PR at the Portland Marathon last weekend.

Sara

I've know Sara since high school. She took the photos of my wedding. I was a bridesmaid in hers. She is now Dr. Sara, and is doing her residency in pediatrics. She is also the person who got me to lace up a pair of running shoes for the first time. She decided to train for the above mentioned mini-marathon, and asked me if I wanted to do it with her. I said no, but I'd do the 10k that was part of the race series. I did the 10k, and then did the 10 miler, and lo and behold, I did the damn mini-marathon. I nearly blacked out afterward at breakfast, but I finished. Sara doesn't know it yet, but she's going to some of my run training with me for Ironman.

Dr. J

He's my doctor (duh). I'll go into what's wrong with me at a later date, but he's the person who keeps me healthy. I have to go see him rather often for someone who on the outside seems very healthy, but that's okay. I have a condition that was kinda hard to diagnose, and a pain to manage.

Now, that's just a few. There are a lot more (like my family, for starters), but these are the ones I'm most likely to write about.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Had a checkup on Friday (I get to go every few months due to some fun medical issues), and the doc gave the all clear for Ironman! Considering he was the one person who could have told me not to do it and actually have me listen, this is a good thing.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Seriously. Especially if you are on a bike. Debi created a route for us to ride that had me (since somehow I had gotten into the lead) turning first right onto this ...slope. I can't even call it a hill. As soon as I turned, I realized just how steep this road was, and I tried to yell a warning to Debi, but then just started screaming "Holy shit!" over and over. This road was narrow. This road was bumpy. If there had been a car coming, I would have been toast, because it was all that I could do to keep my bike under any semblance of control. I was braking so had that I had a brief thought that I might burn through all of my brakes. And when I finally get to the bottom and wait for my buddy to walk her bike down, we realize that the bridge that she saw on the map that would take us over to Beckley Station apparently has not yet been built.